Hijack Drabbles
by Vexcinnt
Summary: Basically this is just another outlet for all my drabbles that I write every now and then. They're in no particular order and are each different in their own way. Hijack.
1. Trace

**Based on this prompt:** **Imagine person A lightly tracing "I love you" over and over again on person B's back, assuming that person B is asleep. When person A is lying on their back, getting ready to sleep, person B moves closer and wraps their arms around person A, whispering softly, "I love you too." Bonus if that's the first time person A has ever declared their love for person B.**

**I know the title sucks I'm sorry**

* * *

He didn't know if he was just bored or just in complete bliss. Despite the fact that it was a little past midnight, Jack couldn't fall asleep. He didn't even know if he wanted to. As he lied there on his bed, lying on his side, he watched the back of Hiccup's bare shoulders slowly rise and fall with each calm and steady breath.

Jack wasn't really sure if he just couldn't fall asleep or if he just didn't want to. His eyes were simply fixed on Hiccup, watching him sleep peacefully without making any kind of sound. The two had only been dating for a little over a month and Jack honestly didn't expect to get Hiccup into bed this quickly. True, nothing happened, but he wasn't so sure at first.

Hiccup had come over several hours ago to hang out at Jack's new apartment hadn't once thought of leaving. The two spent their time playing video games and watching random episodes of their favorite shows on Netflix. Popcorn was thrown, laughs were shared, and of course Jack couldn't resist scooting closer and closer to Hiccup with each passing minute. It wasn't until Hiccup wrapped his arms around Jack and pulled him close did Jack realize that more intimate cuddling wasn't out of the question. A few kisses later and their pizza arrived, making their small time together end abruptly and far too soon in Jack's mind.

Two hours later, and the two realized how late it was getting. When Jack had gone into his kitchen, separated from the living room only by a small bar, Hiccup shyly asked if he could stay over for the night, a question he had been pondering over whether or not to ask for almost a week now. Having his back turned to Hiccup, Jack sucked in his lips and hoped his blushing would go down by the time he was done washing the dishes. Of course he answered yes, he wasn't about to waste a golden opportunity to have Hiccup stay over.

He must have turned around too soon, because as soon as he answered and looked back at Hiccup, the taller teen was staring right at Jack and smirking like he had discovered a secret about Jack that he couldn't wait to use against him. He snickered as he turned his attention back to the TV, the episode about to end.

Jack returned to the couch and assumed his position, still a little nervous to let his head return to Hiccup's shoulder. The position didn't last for long however. Hiccup pulled his bare feet up on the couch, pulling his prosthetic foot closer in order to get more comfortable, and leaned over to Jack and let his head rest on Jack's.

The urge to run his hand through Hiccup's hair was too much for Jack to handle and he soon found himself slowly running his fingers along the base of his neck and slowly moving them up to the back of his head. Hiccup didn't mind. He wanted every second of their time together to last just like this.

When their show was over, Jack turned the TV off and looked to Hiccup. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"And where am I supposed to sleep?" Hiccup asked.

Jack looked at the couch they were sitting on, shuffling his feet closer as he shrugged. "Well there's always here. Or, uh you know, there's, um," Jack didn't know how to word his thought even though there was only one real way to say it. He looked back to Hiccup and spoke, "there's always my bed."

Hiccup smiled as he brought his head down to Jack's shoulders and nuzzled it against his neck, getting a small giggle out of the ticklish Jack. "Sounds like a plan to me," Hiccup said as he placed both feet on the carpet and stood up, stretching his arms out as he looked back to his boyfriend. "Got any clothes I can wear?"

"Clothes?"

"Unless you want me to sleep in my underwear," Hiccup teased with a wink.

Jack could feel another blush coming on and was quick to act. "Well, I uh," he blurted out, "I have some pants and maybe a shirt that would work for you."

"Great," Hiccup said as he cracked his knuckles and watched Jack stand and move towards the bedroom. "Now, about me brushing my teeth."

Jack rolled his eyes, not looking back to Hiccup as he responded, "I may kiss you Hiccup but you're not using my toothbrush. Not gonna happen." He heard Hiccup laugh in return, feeling his larger hands clasp his shoulder and give him a playful shake.

"Don't sweat it man. It was a joke," Hiccup stated before walking ahead of Jack and standing in the doorway leading to the bedroom. "I call dibs on your fluffiest pillow!"

"No fair!" Jack complained with a playful 'humph'.

"Too bad so sad," Hiccup said as he propped his foot up on the doorway, blocking Jack's entrance. "Now, what's the magic word?"

Jack knew this game all too well as Hiccup had done this trick to him several times before. Jack leaned in close and gave Hiccup a quick kiss on his lips, grabbing his leg and slowly lowering it out of his way.

"Password accepted," Hiccup answered.

Once inside, Jack tossed Hiccup a pair of soft pajama bottoms and a loose shirt and went to the bathroom to brush his own teeth. He had every urge to turn around and see Hiccup take off his pants in exchange for the ones Jack gave him, but kept his eyes staring ahead and let Hiccup have his privacy. Once Jack had brushed his teeth, he returned to the room to see Hiccup sitting on the bed, his prosthetic lying on the floor by his side of the bed. Hiccup was taking off his shirt, exposing his bare and freckled chest much to Jack's happy surprise.

Hiccup tossed the shirt aside and began rubbing his foot as he sighed with a shrug. "It was a little tight," he stated.

Jack wasn't sure if Hiccup really meant that or if he was just trying to get some kind of excuse to get him in bed to fool around a little. Regardless, he grabbed his own set of clothes and took off his pants, not caring if Hiccup saw until he grew nervous and worried at the fact Hiccup might see something if he did. Thankfully, Jack's shorts remained loose. He put on his pants and took off his own shirt. As he slipped the loose fabric on, he looked back to Hiccup who was anxiously waiting for Jack as he pulled his legs close.

Jack decided to make things a little fair and leave his shirt off, slipping the shirt over his head and tossing it aside. He placed his hands on his hips and looked around the room before asking. "So, now we just go to bed?"

"Oh for crying out loud. I thought you were the type that would be antsy to get into bed with someone," Hiccup whined.

"Well I didn't expect this to happen so quickly is all!" Jack admitted.

Hiccup wanted to scream, the secondhand embarrassment was ridiculous. He reached out with an open arm. "Just come here you giant nerd."

"I'm no nerd, you're the nerd," Jack retorted as he moved to the bed. He crawled on all fours closer to Hiccup and sat down, crossing his legs as he faced Hiccup. He moved the hair out of his face as he wondered what would happen next. Needing to read Hiccup like this and trying to figure out how he wanted things to go was eating him alive. Did he want to fool around? Did he want cuddling? Did he just want Jack to shut up and go to sleep?

As Jack tried to decide how things should or could even go, he felt Hiccup's hand on his back pulling him close. He expected a kiss but instead was met with Hiccup's forehead meeting his own. Hiccup was smiling as his other hand rubbed Jack's tense shoulder sensually.

Jack returned the smile needless to say and ran his own hand over Hiccup's chest, slowly moving it up closer to Hiccup's cheek. Jack inched his head to Hiccup's neck, giving it a small kiss as his thumb stroked Hiccup's cheek. He knew he must have been doing something right when he felt a small chill go down Hiccup. He pulled Hiccup closer and wrapped his other arm around him, their small contact evolving into a close hug instead.

Jack wanted to communicate his feelings, letting Hiccup know exactly how he felt. He didn't want this night to end. He didn't want Hiccup to ever leave. He wanted to stay awake with him and go back out to the living room with or without their shirts and just play Mario Kart all night long, trying their best not to disturb the neighbors. He wanted to hold him forever. He wanted to kiss him again and again.

He loved him.

…

But Jack couldn't say it. Not yet. It wasn't time after all. Was it? If he was ready, how would he know if Hiccup was?

His train of thought was broken when he felt the tip of Hiccup's nose trace along his neck, making Jack squirm and raise his shoulder as he tried to move Hiccup away.

"Ticklish?" Hiccup asked.

"Shuttup," Jack answered.

Hiccup pulled Jack closer and resumed their former position, their foreheads resting against each other. They kissed once, twice, before Hiccup gave Jack another hug and wished him goodnight. "See you tomorrow," he continued as he shuffled his feet under the blanket.

Jack followed suit, lying down on his back while Hiccup lied on his side, facing Jack. "G'night," Jack said with a smile. As Jack spread his legs out, his foot grazed the top of Hiccup's causing the brown-haired teen to almost jump back and fall off the bed. "What?" Jack asked.

"Your feet are freezing! That's what!" Hiccup reacted.

"Oh, Jack said as he pulled his legs closer and started rubbing them together, realizing that they did in fact feel a little cold and hoped the friction might warm them up a little. "Sorry."

"S'alright," said Hiccup as he shuffled himself back comfortably into the mattress, his head sinking into the pillow. His hand reached for Jack's, clasping it and running his finger along the top part of his hand. Jack hated how much Hiccup could make him blush in one damn day.

The two stared at each other for a few more minutes, getting as close as they could without having their skin touch. Jack reluctantly let his leg stretch out again at one point, worried to have it accidentally graze Hiccup's foot or even his nub. He was surprised to feel Hiccup's leg wrap around his, assuming that his feet must no longer be unbearably cold anymore.

Hiccup was the first to close his eyes, Jack wishing he would stay awake for just a few more minutes, hating that his deep and beautiful green eyes were now blocked from his view. Hiccup's breathing was so calm and peaceful it was a wonder Jack didn't fall asleep just listening to his breathing and watching the rhythmic rising and falling of Hiccup's chest.

Jack's turned on his side to face Hiccup and his hand reached out to lightly touch Hiccup's chest. God he wished he was awake so he could kiss him again. And again. And again. And…God he wished Hiccup was awake.

He was caught off guard when a noise escaped Hiccup's mouth. Instantly he retracted his hand for fear that he was waking Hiccup. Hiccup shuffled for a moment before he turned over and lied down on his back, which only lasted for a few seconds until he turned over onto his other side and turned his back to Jack.

And there Jack was, watching the back of Hiccup's bare shoulders slowly rise and fall with each calm and steady breath. As Hiccup turned, part of his back became exposed as the thin sheet slipped down his arm and showed Jack Hiccup's freckled skin.

Jack bit his lip. He reached out to fix the blanket, not wanting to risk letting Hiccup get cold. However, as he reached out to fix the sheet, Hiccup reached over his shoulder and scratched his back, moving the blanket even farther and showing off even more of his back.

Jack didn't know why he did it, but he placed his hand on Hiccup's back. It was much warmer than he had expected. No wonder he thought his feet were cold earlier. Jack scooted closer and peered over the sleeping boy's shoulder. Hiccup's dark brown hair covered his forehead, his mouth slightly hung open, only just enough that he could see a bit of his teeth.

Jack smiled. It gave him peace seeing Hiccup this calm and still. The urge to kiss him once again returned, but he shoved that feeling aside. At least, he tried.

Jack didn't move away from Hiccup as he moved his head back to the pillow. His hand remained on Hiccup's back as he tangled his legs with the others. Jack turned his attention again to Hiccup's back, hoping he'd finally be able to fall asleep.

Easier said than done.

'_I give up'_ Jack thought. _'I'm just gonna rot away until he wakes up. Maybe then I can convince him to stay overnight again and get a second chance to do things right._'

Jack sighed as he traced his finger down Hiccup's spine, the other teen moving just slightly over and onto his stomach, his back just tilted at a slight angle. Jack watched as Hiccup shuffled his shoulders, trying his best to get comfortable. It was then that jack noticed all the freckles on Hiccup's back. Good Lord had there always been this many? It was insane.

What else was there about Hiccup he didn't know? Did those freckles cover everything? Does he like having his hair played with? Does he like Jack the way Jack likes him? Questions plagued his mind. He just wanted to let Hiccup know how much he meant to him. Maybe if he practiced he might be able to say it confidently later. But how could he practice it now? He couldn't wake Hiccup up. Maybe if he left the room?

He moved the blanket off of his legs and went to carefully get off the bed, placing only one bare foot on the floor before Hiccup made another small noise, keeping Jack in a standstill and pondering if he should risk leaving or staying in bed. He chose the latter. He sighed in disappointment as he tossed the blanket back over him. He looked to Hiccup and wondered what he would think if Jack pointed out all those freckles. There were so many Jack might as well take a picture of them, print the picture, and use it as a connect-the-dots picture.

Jack ran his finger lightly over Hiccup's back, propping himself up on his arm and looking at Hiccup, hoping he wouldn't wake him and disturb his peaceful slumber. Then, an idea came. Jack looked down to his finger, making small spirals on Hiccup's back and took in a deep breath before he whispered, "Hiccup, I…uh, dammit, I…" even whispering Jack couldn't find himself to say the words.

He bit his lips as he closed his eyes and began to wonder what his other options were. Maybe he could wait for Hiccup to say it first, but who knows when that would be? He opened his eyes and looked to Hiccup's back and stopped moving his finger. Oh well, practice was practice, right?

He began to connect the makeshift dots on Hiccup's back. One small vertical line with a horizontal line on top and underneath the first line. 'I'.

One more lines. A circle. Two more line. A line with an uncompleted circle around it: 'love'.

And to complete the deal, two more lines, another circle, and a small downward curve: 'you'.

Jack retracted his finger and admired his invisible 'work'. He was almost ashamed at the fact he could write it out but not say it out loud. He wrote the three words again and again, each time getting faster with each stroke up to the point that his finger never left hiccup's skin and each letter was connected to the other. Jack stopped for a moment to look back at Hiccup, smiling as he kept his gaze and wrote the words one more time. 'I love you' he wrote.

His chin rested on Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup looked so freaking cute right now it was killing him. His rested his head on his free hand that he propped up on his elbow. _'He's so peaceful when he sleeps'_ Jack thought as he watched Hiccup sleep.

Jack looked back at the time. Almost one in the morning. He looked back to Hiccup and realized that as long as he focused on Hiccup, he'd never fall asleep. Even if he held his warm and inviting body close to his, he'd only stay awake and anticipate seeing Hiccup in the morning. Oh man, Hiccup with morning bed head was certain to be a sight. Jack would definitely need to get a picture of that.

'_Guess I should get to bed too,'_ Jack realized. He let his head rest on Hiccup's shoulder, giving him a small impromptu hug before he slowly and carefully turned over onto his side and faced away from Hiccup, letting himself sink into the mattress and at least attempt to go to sleep.

One of these days he would have to tell Hiccup how he felt. Maybe he could do it tomorrow when they woke and had their breakfast? Maybe if he convinced Hiccup to sleep over again he could tell him before they went to bed? Or maybe he could text it to him? Jack quickly tossed that idea aside, knowing that the first time couldn't be over the phone or even by text. It had to be something in person, said face-to-face. There was no other option.

Jack tried to stop thinking about it and instead focused on all the things he and Hiccup could do tomorrow. He smiled as he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, finally finding himself in a position where he could fall asleep. He felt Hiccup shuffle on the other side of the bed but paid no mind to it.

At least, not until he felt Hiccup's arm around his waist and Hiccup move himself forward, nuzzling his face in Jack's neck and kissing him tenderly before moving to Jack's ear and whispering, "I love you too."

Oh no. No no no this did not just happen. Did it? Wait, isn't this a good thing? It's not how he intended it to happen but…it happened nonetheless. Jack looked over, lying on his back while Hiccup stayed on his side. "You, uh, you do?"

"Mmhmm," Hiccup answered with a nod.

"I thought you were asleep."

Hiccup shook his head. "I never was."

"So you were-"

"Yep."

Jack's mouth hung open for a while before he started to giggle. "Cheater."

Hiccup shrugged and rolled his eyes, smirking as he gave Jack the silent response along the lines of 'ah well, what can you do?' "You know me," Hiccup said.

Jack sat up and pulled Hiccup close, kissing his lips and squeezing his shoulder. "I really do," Jack added once their kiss was through.

"I know," Hiccup said.

"I love you, Hiccup. I love you."

"Oh come-I love you, Jack."

Jack slightly retreated from Hiccup, lying back on his back. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to say it out loud."

Hiccup moved himself on top of Jack and leaned down to kiss Jack's chest. "It's okay. I understand."

Jack ran his hands through Hiccup's hair, kissing the top of his head before Hiccup moved himself off of Jack. The two turned on their sides and faced each other. They smiled as they stared into each other's eyes. Jack kissed Hiccup's nose, then his cheeks, then his forehead, then his lips again. Now that everything was out in the open, Jack wasn't going to waste a moment letting Hiccup know how he felt about him.

"Well you're being friendly," Hiccup thought aloud.

"Oh be quiet," Jack spat. "You know you like it."

"Indeed I do," Hiccup admitted before he kissed Jack once more. Now it was his turn to run his hands through Jack's hair. Jack's white hair felt smooth and soft to the touch, like always.

When their lips had parted, their arms around each other and their feet brushing up against the other, Jack let his head fall back into the pillow. "Soooo…now what?" he asked.

"Hm? What do you mean?" asked Hiccup.

"I mean. We're past the 'love you' stage. What else is there? Marriage? Kids? Going broke because the economy is crap?" Hiccup was silent, giving Jack a stir and quickly leaning his head off of the pillow. "Th-that was a joke."

Hiccup laughed, pulling Jack close and resting his chin on the top of his head. "Oh no, no you're right. We should get married right now. We'll live here. Our wedding will be big and grand!"

Jack rolled his eyes as he kissed the bottom of Hiccup's neck, right where his collar bones ended. "Just stop," he said out of embarrassment.

Hiccup giggled as he moved Jack away from his neck so he could look into his eyes. "Hey, you started it."

Jack had nothing to say. He just lied there and smiled at his boyfriend. They shared another, much quicker kiss before Jack said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Hiccup nodded. "See you tomorrow," he replied.

The two let their heads rest on their pillows, their arms still around each other, and closed their eyes. Silence filled the room. Everything was as it should be.

"You know Jack," Hiccup started, whispering softly.

"Hm?"

"All joking aside, there is one more stage we could try."

"What's that?" Jack inquired. "The moving in stage? Rent isn't cheap, Hiccup."

Hiccup giggled before responding, "Well there is that, but that's not exactly the stage I'm talking about."

"Then what is?" asked Jack. He opened his eyes slightly and saw Hiccup's eyes doing the same, getting another small laugh out of the two. Jack's eyes grew wider however when he felt Hiccup's hand slowly make its way down his back and onto his cheek, squeezing it softly before he gave Jack a toothy smile.

Jack of course freaked out for a moment, but yet Hiccup's hand remained in his butt, playfully squeezing it to Jack's surprise. "Hey! Cut it out!" Jack exclaimed with a smile.

Hiccup obliged, but not before taking a bit of Jack's pants and underwear in his hand and giving it a small pull and letting the elastic snap back against his skin. Jack buried his head in his pillow, feeling his head grow warmer by the second.

Hiccup only covered his mouth with his fist, sucking in his lips and waiting to see how else Jack would respond. He would keep the act up, seeing what else he could get way with, but figured for the time being that small and innocent butt play was enough for now.

Jack looked up from the pillow and glared at Hiccup, who only smiled and responded with, "Yes?"

Jack moved closer to Hiccup and kissed his nose before he leaned to his ear and whispered, "Tomorrow, okay?"

"Tomorrow as in the next time the sun sets or tomorrow as in the next time we-"

"Twenty-four hours from now you freakin' nerd," Jack answered. He moved away from Hiccup and kissed his lips, this time making sure the contact lasted. Jack's hand made contact with Hiccup's cheek when their kiss ended, running his finger along Hiccup's lips. "See you tomorrow?"

Hiccup let his forehead lean on Jack's. "Tomorrow," he answered with a wink.

Neither of them moved away from the other. But they soon found themselves falling asleep in each other's arms, tomorrow's activities already being planned out by both of them. They didn't ponder too much about how it would go tomorrow when the time came for them to grow more intimate with each other. They didn't care about what time it would happen, if it would be on the bed or the couch, they couldn't even care less about that. What they cared about now was not what they would do tomorrow with their free time. Video games? More Netflix? Going out? Whatever it was they did tomorrow, all that really mattered was if they were with each other. The person they openly loved.

Jack still couldn't believe it. He loved Hiccup. And Hiccup loved him back.

That was all he could think about as he fell asleep, holding Hiccup's warm body close to his, hoping that his cold feet wouldn't bother him anymore.

Hiccup kept his mouth shut and slept through the feeling of Jack's cold feet against his own. He loved Jack. Cold feet and all.


	2. Behind Closed Doors

**Hiccup says he has a small surprise for Jack, but of course he won't let Jack anywhere near the room he's been using to work on it.**  
**There's some fluff and cute things that are attempted so…yeah. Here's this:**

* * *

The move hadn't been that hard for Jack. His parents were totally okay with him moving out and living on his own while he went to school. They were especially grateful he was moving in with a roommate so that rent wouldn't be that much of a bother for him. Work was fine and all, but like most parents they wanted him to focus on his schoolwork rather than making enough money just to make sure he wasn't kicked out on the street one lonely night.

Jack had told them that he was moving in with a friend. He neglected to tell them how close that certain friend was however. Their relationship hadn't entirely been a secret form their friends, and Hiccup's dad was perfectly okay with their relationship. Jack's parents were the same, though he barely spoke with them about it. Being so far away from home, Jack didn't speak to his parents as much as Hiccup did with his dad. Plus, Stoick really seemed to like Jack, so that itself was an added bonus that Jack really enjoyed since the man would offer them a free meal every so often in exchange for a story about how things were going at school and with their social life.

Both of the boys had met in the school's cafeteria during a rainy day that made neither of them want to walk to their next class. They were also both lucky enough to be good friends with someone who was able to sneak them food so they wouldn't go hungry. The two began to talk and instantly knew that they had to be friends.

At least that was the idea.

Their friendship lasted a little over three weeks. After that it turned into something more, Jack being the one to instigate it.

Skip ahead almost a year later and there the two college juniors were, sitting on the living room couch and watching a movie. Jack had moved in just two weeks ago and, if he had to be honest, this was much better than he had ever anticipated. The apartment was spacious enough. Hiccup had been sharing the apartment with his friend he nicknamed Fishlegs before, but after he moved Jack was the first person on Hiccup's mind to move in. Though Jack had his own bedroom, he barely used it for anything except a place to keep his clothes and books and anything else a person might have in their bedroom. The only thing he didn't do in it was sleep. That he saved for Hiccup's bedroom.

Jack was sitting at the edge of the couch, his legs stretching out over the cushions while Hiccup sat on his lap, resting his head against the shorter boy's chest. Every now and then Jack would turn his attention away from the movie and focus on the person he loved that was lying on top of him. His hand would always find its way into the dark brown hair that Jack still couldn't believe was this fluffy and poofy without any kind of conditioner. This would of course immediately get Hiccup's attention and the two would do nothing but simply look at each other. And of course there would be a kiss or two…or three, but they didn't keep count.

The movie was only halfway through and the boys hadn't even paid that much attention to it. At this point the only thing the film was doing was providing background noise and a bit of ambiance. That and it provided an excuse for neither of them to do the dishes they had left in the sink from the dinner they had.

Jack reached out just slightly and gave Hiccup's nose a small tap, making a small 'boop' sound effect as he did so. This managed to make Hiccup giggle a little and he adjusted his chest and brought himself closer to Jack, letting his head lie against the paler man's chest.

"Okay, no, that has to go," Jack commented.

"What does?" asked Hiccup, not removing his cheek from Jack's dark blue shirt.

"That laugh."

"My laugh?"

"Oh yeah. Gotta go."

Hiccup looked up at Jack, letting his chin rest against the white-haired male as he asked, "What's wrong with my laugh?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Uh, it's too adorable."

"We've been together for a little over a year, Jack. Why am I just now hearing this?"

Hiccup brought up a good point, but dear God did it make Jack's heart flutter. "Because now I'm living with you, that's why. I wanna come home to a giggle-free environment. If you giggle like that it makes me feel all mushy and weird inside."

Hiccup blinked twice as he sucked in his lips before responding. "You know," he began, "I'm no expert. But I'm pretty sure that means you have butterflies in your stomach."

"Gross."

"Fine, how about this?" Hiccup then did a stereotypical kind of laugh that Jack would expect an Asian schoolgirl to do. He even but his fingertips right on his lips as he giggled. "Like that?"

Jack brought his forehead closer to Hiccup's, placing a hand behind Hiccup's head and slowly moving his fingers back and forth and grabbing a small handful of hair. "What do you think?"

"Fine," Hiccup responded with a sigh. "How about this?" The twenty-year-old then gave Jack a deep and nasally laugh, to which Jack nearly burst out laughing. "So I'm taking that as a yes?"

As Jack took a breath in order to calm himself down, he couldn't help but bring his lips to Hiccup's, giving his boyfriend a small kiss before he chuckled back in reply, "Shut up," and kiss him again. The two kept their contact for what seemed like forever. Nothing more happened than just kissing and playing with each other's hair. Occasionally Jack would stroke Hiccup's back and give him small pecks on his neck, but nothing progressed farther than that.

At one point, Hiccup pushed himself away from Jack and just stared into the other man's eyes, finding himself lost in the deep blue of Jack's eyes. His thumb began stroking Jack's cheek before the rest of his hand followed suit and simply cupped Jack's cheek in his palm. Jack practically leaned into the touch. He even slowly began to nod his head as if he couldn't get enough of Hiccup's touching him. For added affect, Jack decided to try and be a little more romantic than usual and take Hiccup's hand and give his knuckles a small peck.

Hiccup hated that such a simple gesture would make him blush. Jack on the other hand found it heart-melting. He had to kiss him again. And so he did. They kissed once, twice, three more times before Jack made their lips part and say to the other man, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Hiccup quickly responded.

"No," Jack went on, "I mean I love you. Like, Hiccup I-I, oh God I don't even, I just…I really love you Hiccup. I love you so freaking much."

Hiccup thought Jack just had to be messing with him. Never before had the other boy gotten this sweet and kind and open and caring with him. Of course Jack had shown his sweet side, but not like this. Not this open and honest anyways. Hiccup felt like he was going to tear up; never before had he thought someone would care about him this much. But he wasn't going to let Jack see him get all emotional over that. Instead he had another idea.

He kissed Jack again and told him, "I love you too, Jack. I really really do."

"I hope so, otherwise we might need to stop kissing every five minutes," Jack joked.

Hiccup again rolled his eyes and playfully tapped Jack's shoulder. "Hey, when's your birthday again?"

"Not till December. Why?"

Hiccup bit his lip as he tried to think this thing over. In the end, he just sighed and shook his head. "Never mind," he said as he reached into his pocket and took out his phone. Turing it on and swiping it over to the camera, Hiccup reached out and turned on the front camera. "Say cheese!" he said as he gave the camera a small smile and positioned himself. He laid his head on Jack's chest and Jack quickly, not knowing when Hiccup would press the button, let his hand rest on Hiccup's back and gave the camera a smile as his head leaned against Hiccup's.

Soon the small 'click' sound let both the boys know the picture had been taken and Hiccup pulled his arm back and looked at the photo. The picture had managed to get a little bit of Hiccup's hand sticking out, but he didn't mind. The picture also showed Hiccup lying on Jack's chest, Jack's arm lying on his back, both of them giving their best smiles, Jack's free arm draped over the side of the couch, and the corner of the movie poster they had behind the couch. "I like it," Hiccup said before showing it Jack. "You like?"

Jack, after looking at the picture, nodded and gave Hiccup a thumbs up. "I like it."

"Great," Hiccup replied as he turned his phone off and went to put it in his pocket. That is, before Jack grabbed his hand and made him pause.

"Woah, woah, woah. What're you doing?" Jack asked.

Hiccup was silent for a moment, looking around as he tried to think of what might constitute as an appropriate answer. "Well I was going to put my phone back in my pocket and hope that we could maybe cuddle some more, but now I'm guessing that may be the wrong answer."

Jack placed his closed hand under Hiccup's head, raising the boy's head a bit as his thumb stroked his chin. "The cuddling I'm okay with. But that camera of yours needs to stay out."

"Why?"

"So we can take stupid and goofy pictures that should never ever be put online of course!"

Hiccup smiled and rolled his eyes at the ridiculous response. But that didn't stop him from agreeing with Jack's request and adding fifty-three more pictures of the two of them goofing off to his phone's gallery.

The next day, Jack awoke in Hiccup's bed to find that the other had already started his day. Lazily, he stepped out of bed, the soft carpet feeling nice on his bare feet. He adjusted his pants and ran a hand through his messy hair as he stepped into the living room. To his surprise, Hiccup wasn't in the living room or kitchen. As far as he knew, Hiccup didn't have any plans for their Saturday. The door to the bathroom was open but the light was off. The only door that was closed was Jack's bedroom.

Jack walked over to the door, shuffling his feet on the carpet, and knocked on the door. "Hiccup?" he asked as he slowly opened the door. The light was on, but that was all Jack noticed that was different about his room last he left it before he heard Hiccup shout in response.

"Don't come in!" he exclaimed.

Jack stopped the door and closed it just a tad, leaving it open just enough he could hear Hiccup move around and put things away. "Sleep well?"

"Uh, yeah," Jack answered groggily. "What time is it?"

A small pause. Jack heard Hiccup move more things around. "A little after ten," he answered.

"Damn. It's Saturday. I'm not supposed to be up until three." Jack heard a small chuckle come from the room, followed what sounded like wood creaking. Soon after, Hiccup appeared at the door, still dressed in his pajamas. "Morning," Jack greeted as he moved out of Hiccup's way.

"Morning," Hiccup said as he closed the door behind him. "Okay, wanna do me a huge favor?" he asked.

Jack shrugged. "Depends."

"Don't go in your room."

"Oh dear God, what did you do?!" Jack jokingly accused.

Hiccup shook his head and raised his hands as he tried to calm Jack down. "No, no, no it's not like that. I didn't do anything to it. You just, uh, it-it's just like." He sighed before he tried again to explain, "Okay here's how it's gonna go. You don't go in that room unless I say you can, alright?"

"Says who?" Jack inquired.

Hiccup was quick to respond. "Says the guy who let you move in here in the first place."

"Let me move in?" Jack repeated. "You might as well have begged me to move in with you!"

"Did not!"

"Did so and don't you dare try to deny it!" Jack affirmed, point at Hiccup as he spoke.

"Look, for now, just don't go in there, okay? Just for like, uh, I don't know, a couple days?"

Jack couldn't help but be extremely curious as to why Hiccup didn't want him in his own room. How could Hiccup blame him anyways? "Why?"

"Can't tell ya," Hiccup answered, moving towards his bedroom.

As Jack followed, he looked back at the door to his room and had the strongest urge to burst into the room and open the door to see whatever Hiccup was hiding from him. But of course there was no way he was going to betray Hiccup's trust like that. At least not until he had a reasonable suspicion that whatever he was hiding in there was some elaborate prank that desperately called for his mischievous attention so he would know what to expect and how to retaliate.

"Why can't you tell me?" Jack asked.

"Because that would ruin the surprise, stupid!" Hiccup answered as he grabbed a clean shirt.

The reasonable suspicion was starting to grow. "So there's a surprise in there?"

Hiccup looked over his shoulder and hummed a quick 'Mm-hmm' to Jack before he exchanged his wrinkly bedtime shirt for a nice and clean t-shirt. He didn't bother putting on a different pair of pants. He had no plans to go anywhere that day.

Jack leaned against the open door and folded his arms. "Just for a couple days?" he asked.

"Yeah," Hiccup said as his fingers intertwined and he stretched out his arms. "That should give me enough time to finish what I need to, then I'll move it in here and we'll just sleep in your bed."

"_My_ bed?" Jack repeated.

"Must be an echo in here," the brown-haired male commented as he walked past Jack and into the open kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed the container of orange juice. "It's not that big of a deal, trust me," he said as he set the carton down and grabbed two glasses from a cabinet beside the fridge. "Just give me a couple days and then your room is all yours."

"But my bed?" Jack said again. "It's gonna be weird, Hic!"

Hiccup paid no attention to Jack's complaints as he poured two glasses of juice. "It's just for a couple days. A mattress is a mattress." He grabbed both glasses, now filled with orange juice, and handed one to Jack which he graciously took. "Do we have a deal?"

It took Jack a moment to accept, but eventually he clinked his glass against Hiccup's and drank the juice, officially accepting Hiccup's deal. For two days jack didn't enter his own bedroom without Hiccup's permission. On day three, when Jack was in the living room, Hiccup stepped out of Jack's bedroom and snapped his fingers.

"_Eyes. Closed. Now._"

"Wha-why? What's goin-"

"Eyes. Closed. Now," Hiccup reiterated.

Jack did as he was told and kept his eyes shut for just a few minutes, all the while hearing Hiccup quickly move from room to room and move whatever it was he was working on in Jack's room over to his. When he was done, Hiccup leaned in and gave Jack a quick kiss on his lips. "You're the best!" he said as he sat down beside him.

"Tell me something I don't know," Jack bragged.

Just as Jack thought it would be, sleeping in his bed was weird at first, even with Hiccup still there right beside him like he always had been. The mattress was of course different, the light on the wall was different, the room itself was different, everything was…well, different.

And it didn't bother Jack too much. Come night two he was used to it and had no complaints. None except however for the itching in his brain that was just dying to see what Hiccup was working on.

Jack only once almost found out what it was, and that was by sheer accident. On the fourth day after Hiccup had moved his little project to the other room, Jack was sitting alone in the living room, the television giving some background noise as he finished his Theatre History assignment. Just as he was about to answer the last question, he heard a loud 'BUMP' in Hiccup's room.

Of course his instinct took over and he got up to see what caused the noise. But right as he grabbed the handle to open the door, he stopped in realization of what he was about to do. Of course he couldn't go in and risk seeing whatever it was Hiccup was hiding from him. But on the other hand, what if it was something valuable or breakable. What if something was leaking all over the floor and needed to be cleaned up right away?

Jack didn't have to think about it for long. Soon after, the front door opened and Hiccup entered the apartment, one hand carrying a white plastic bag and the other his laptop carrying tote. He closed the door behind him with his prosthetic foot and stopped in both shock and fear at what he saw Jack doing. He stood in the small hallway in front of the door that led to the open kitchen/living room area and set his things down on the hardwood floor. "What are you doing?" he finally asked as he took a few steps forward, stepping onto the carpet flooring.

Jack held out one hand to try to get Hiccup to calm himself while his other stayed wrapped around the doorknob. "It's not what it looks like," he explained.

"Then what is it?" Hiccup asked, gesturing towards the door that led to his room.

"I-I-I heard something. Something, uh, something fell I think? I heard a noise and I wanted to check but I, you know, I wasn't sure if that was a good idea and well here you and-and here I am so-"

"Just lemme check," Hiccup stated as he picked up his pace and moved quickly to the door. Jack courteously moved out of Hiccup's way and moved to a spot so that when Hiccup opened the door, he wouldn't be able to see anything inside. The only thing he was before the door closed was the light turn on and the familiar dark green color of Hiccup's wall.

As the door closed, Jack took a small step closer to the door and managed to hear what sounded like Hiccup sighing. He hoped it was a sigh of relief and not one of distress. Not even a minute passed by before Hiccup left the room and closed the door, leaving the light on.

"Everything's okay," he assured. "Something did fall over but it wasn't anything too important. Everything's all good."

"You sure?" Jack asked.

Hiccup smiled, nodded, and gave Jack a thumbs up in reply. "Positive."

"Good," Jack sighed in relief. He moved back to the couch and grabbed his homework, ready to finish the final question and turn his attention to something more fun and exciting. Hiccup sat on the arm of the couch next to him and placed his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"Hey, uh," he began. "I'm, uh, sorry if I sounded mad or I dunno like I accused you of doing something you didn't do."

Jack looked up at Hiccup and closed his book, setting it aside before he wrapped his arm around Hiccup's waist and pulled himself closer. "No, no man you were totally fine. I would have thought the same thing, really I would have."

"You sure?" Hiccup asked as he scooted closer.

Jack gave his lap a couple pats and nodded. "Positive," he said with a smile.

Hiccup sat down, leaning his head back besides Jack's. He wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulders and gave him a small kiss on his cheek before turning his attention to the TV. As Jack finished his assignment, he tried to pay attention to the show, but his mind turned to other and more important things.

A couple more days passed without anything else happening in the room that got Jacks curiosity. Sunday came and Jack was standing in the kitchen, putting away the clean dishes when Jack heard Hiccup leave his room.

Jack wiped his hands dry and turned to look at Hiccup. The taller boy had a sense of confidence and happiness as he closed the door. He cracked his knuckles and wiped his forehead. Jack noticed there was a small bit of green paint on Hiccup's knuckle.

Jack nodded towards Hiccup as he propped himself up on the small round kitchen table. "Busy?" he asked.

Hiccup sighed and smiled as he looked at Jack. "No," he answered as he shook his head. He walked over to Jack and grabbed his hand. "Come on," he said as he led him to the door to Hiccup's bedroom.

Jack was taken in surprise, looking back and forth between the door and Hiccup. "Uh, wait, what? What's happening? Is your thing done?"

Hiccup kept his smile as he placed Jack in front of the door and stepped behind him, placing his hands over Jack's eyes. "Just open the door," Hiccup said.

Jack slowly reached out and fumbled to grab the doorknob. "You know it might be a bit easier if you waited until the door was open before you covered my eyes." Hiccup said nothing in response. As Jack grabbed the doorknob, he decided to take his precious time twisting it and opening the door. He could tell it was effective since he heard Hiccup groan behind him. When he heard the door creak open, he did nothing but stand there.

"Well, do we play a game of hot and cold or do I just walk in and open my eyes?" Jack asked.

Hiccup took his hands off of Jack and gave his back a slight shove, giving him the slight motivation he needed to walk into the room. "Open whenever," Hiccup said as he followed Jack, standing right beside him so he could see his face when he opened his eyes.

Jack did nothing for a few seconds, reveling in the feeling of making Hiccup wait. He made Jack wait, so he was going to do the same to Hiccup. Before Jack could open his eyes, Hiccup shouted at him, "Wait!"

Jack jumped in response. "Perfect timing there, Hiccup," he commented.

"Just shut up and let me fix something," Hiccup told Jack. The white-haired boy heard something shuffled around in the room, as if something was being moved in front of him. "Okay," Hiccup said. "Now."

This time, Jack did as he was asked and opened his eyes. His jaw almost hit the floor when he saw what stood in front of him and discovered what Hiccup had been working on this whole time.

Standing beside Hiccup, who was trying his best not to smile too much as he clenched his nervous fists as tight as he could, was an easel that had one of the best paintings Jack had ever seen. The picture certainly showed Jack just by itself why it took so long for Hiccup to complete his little 'project'. Jack sucked in his lips as he stepped closer to the picture of him lying on the couch with Hiccup lying against his chest, both of them smiling just like they had in the picture Hiccup had taken just a little over a week earlier. The amount of details Hiccup had put into the picture astounded Jack. He knew Hiccup was a talented artist, but yet there he was acting as if he had learned about Hiccup's talent all over again.

Jack wanted to take the painting off the easel and hold it in his hands, but knew that Hiccup might kill him should he touch it and the paint wasn't completely dry. As Jack got closer, he noticed that in the bottom right corner, Hiccup was written in white letters 'The Two of Us'. He turned to look at Hiccup, who was still nervously smiling and shaking his fists by his side. He smiled as he exhaled in relief, knowing that Jack obviously liked the gift.

"So," Hiccup said as he stepped closer to Jack and pointed at the painting, "do you, uh, do you like it?"

"_Like it_?" Jack asked. "Hiccup, you-you can't be serious. Do I like it? Holy crap I love it! Th-this is amazing!" Jack ran his hands along the side of the canvas, looking around the room and seeing the mess that Hiccup had made. Paint bottles and paper plates were scattered about. Cups filled with dirty paint water stood beside the easel. "So this is what you've been working on?"

"Yeah," Hiccup answered with a nod, placing his hands on Jack's shoulders. "You really like it though?"

"Oh my God this must have been torture! Seriously how long did the sketch alone take you?"

"Just a couple days," Hiccup said as he held the other side of the canvas and picked it up, Jack following his lead upon realizing it was okay to touch it just to pick it up. "After I finished the sketch I just took it in here and started coloring it."

"Wow," Jack said as he got a closer look at the picture. The strands of their hair, Hiccup's freckles, the folds in Jack's shirt, everything looked amazing. "Okay, now where are we putting this?"

Hiccup let his head rest on Jack's shoulder. "I dunno. Wherever you want to put it I guess."

Jack thought it couldn't get better. "Really?"

"Yeah," Hiccup said as he kissed his cheek. He removed his hands and looked around the bedroom. "Anywhere you like. I can get a hammer and a nail and put it up anytime you like. I already put a wire on the back so it's ready to go."

Jack looked around the room and tried to find the perfect spot. By the window? Above the bed? Oh God no, too cliché. Maybe by the door? There were too many options for Jack to want to choose from. After a silent minute of looking around, Jack realized that he wasn't necessarily limited to the bedroom.

"I've got it," Jack mumbled as he took the painting from Hiccup and walked out of the bedroom.

"What's that?" Hiccup asked. "You've what?"

Jack walked over to the couch and carefully set the painting down on the cushion. He reached out and began to slowly take the large movie poster off of the wall. "I've got a great spot," Jack told Hiccup as he watched Jack take the poster off of the wall.

"Above the couch?" Hiccup asked.

"Why not?" Jack retorted. "I don't want it somewhere only the two of us will see. I want it to be where everyone can see it."

Hiccup began to blush a little. "Really?" he asked. Now Jack was just being too kind. It was just a simple painting, but Jack was treating it as if it were a masterpiece. "Are you sure? I mean you can put it up in your room if you can't find a spot in my room."

"Please," Jack said as walked to the kitchen, ready to grab a nail and hammer from the spare drawers they had. "Besides those couple of days when was the last time I actually used that bedroom besides storage?"

"I don't know just…there?"

Jack stopped for a moment as he opened the drawer. "Do you not want it there?" Jack looked back at the wall. "I mean, if you prefer it in the bedroom then I'm okay with that. Maybe we can put it by the window? Or maybe we can put in the hall by the front door?"

Hiccup looked at the spot that Jack had picked. It was a nice spot after all. And if Jack wanted to put it there then why not? Hiccup supposed he could let it hang there and let his embarrassment, if he could even call it that, be over with. Hiccup shook his head and motioned to the wall. "No. No it's fine. Go ahead. Let's put it up there."

Jack's smile returned, quickly grabbing the nail and hammer. "Great." He moved the painting out of the way and began to hammer the nail in the wall. "You think this'll be okay with the landlord?"

"Should be," Hiccup answered.

Right before Jack began to hammer the nail, he paused and glanced over his shoulder to look back at Hiccup. "Just to be safe, should we use one of those strips and just hang up a hook?"

Hiccup snapped his fingers and pointed at Jack. "Good idea," he complimented, "I'll grab one." Hiccup grabbed one of the hooks from a different drawer in the kitchen. He tossed it in his hand as he moved back to the living room and showed it off to Jack. "Here ya go," he said as he tossed it on the couch.

Jack put down the hammer and nail and grabbed the small hook. "Aren't I smart?" he bragged.

"You're alright."

Jack carefully placed the hook on the wall and grabbed the painting. Slowly, he hung it on the hook and took a couple steps back, admiring the piece of art one more time. Jack sighed in happiness and pleasure when he saw the artwork hanging above the couch. He looked to Hiccup and nodded his head towards the painting. "Like it?"

Hiccup came closer to Jack and wrapped his arms around him, resting his head on Jack's shoulder. "I love it."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Both of them stood there and gazed at the art, Hiccup's arms staying around Jack the whole time. Before long, Jack moved to the couch, taking Hiccup with him. Jack sat on the couch, Hiccup lying down on top of him as he had done so before. None of them turned the TV on, looked at their phones, all the two of them did was sit there and enjoy each other's company. Jack began twirling his finger in a small circle over Hiccup's back.

"Thank you, Hiccup," Jack said before kissing the top of Hiccup's head.

Hiccup looked up and smiled. "One, you're welcome. And two, I think you missed my lips."

"No I'm pretty sure I intended to kiss your head."

"Oh, well then in that case," Hiccup leaned forward and kissed Jack's lips tenderly, squishing their noses together when their lips parted. "There. Got that out of the way."

Jack laughed as he leaned his head against Hiccup's. He wrapped his other arm around Hiccup and held him close, perfectly okay with the fact that the two of them might fall asleep on the couch together. He felt the familiar feeling of Hiccup's fingers on the back of his head, running themselves through his hair. He closed his eyes as he sank into the cushions, loving absolutely everything about this moment.

"Hey Jack?" Hiccup asked, breaking the silence.

"Hm?" Jack responded, his eyes staying shut.

"I realize I might have made it a little hard for you to one-up me next time you get me present, but if you want I'll be totally fine with getting Dragon Age. I still have gotten Inquisition and you know I'm pretty eager to play it so, yeah, just giving you a heads up."

"Shut up you dragon nerd."

"White-haired buffoon."

"Okay well now you're just being cruel." The two shared a small laugh, neither of them once considering getting up from the couch. After a short while the TV was turned on, but like always it soon became background noise as the two filled their phones with even more goofy pictures of themselves, both of them hoping that none of them would ever be put online for others to see. It made Jack wonder if Hiccup would ever make a painting of one of the pictures they were taking. He hoped the answer was no. One painting was remarkable and wonderful as the one Hiccup had just made was hard enough to give enough thanks for, but two? Now that was a challenge.


	3. Frosty Treats

The sun was shining especially bright today. It was one of those typical summer days that made Hiccup wish his apartment complex had its own pool, though it was unlikely he would even use it even if his missing limb wouldn't pose a problem. Public pools always grossed him out in a way. They seemed to be a breeding ground for loud children and adults who felt entitled to some kind of relaxation amongst them. If anything, he was wishing he had his own private pool where no one could bother him.

Of course there we other ways for him to cool off. For example there was always the A/C and a nice, ice cold soda to cool him down. Although there were days he actually found it refreshing to just sit on his balcony and enjoy the view. He lived in a big city, but his balcony faced what he considered to be a fairly large park, its surroundings covered with large trees. If he ignored the few buildings that managed to break through on the horizon, he could very easily pretend that he was facing nothing but wilderness.

A wilderness that had the occasional police siren or the many sounds of cars passing by and people shouting, but wilderness nevertheless.

Today however the balcony didn't seem to help. He had abandoned the soda after his second can and had switched to water, but even then the sun still decided that it would have the best of Hiccup today. It wasn't even shining directly on him and he could still feel the increasing heat. He had no idea how Toothless could sit there in the chair beside him and just stare at the trees as if his black fur wasn't making his body temperature rise with every passing second.

"You confuse me," Hiccup thought aloud as he took the last sip from his drink, taking with it the last piece of ice and letting it melt in his mouth. While the drink was helping, neither it nor the sodas from earlier were hitting the spot. What he really wanted right now was a nice bit of ice cream, which unfortunately he had none of. Nothing that a quick trip to the store couldn't fix though. He did after all have a little bit of extra spending money left over. He shooed Toothless inside, grabbed his shoes, made sure there was plenty of cash in his wallet, and walked out the door.

As he made his way to the parking lot, he tossed his keys in his hand, thinking about what possibly flavor he would get. Traditional vanilla? Or Neapolitan? Or Sherbet, or Cookie's n' Crème, or Rocky Road, Strawberry, Blueberry, Cookie Dough, there were too many options to consider. If he didn't pick decide upon a single flavor he feared he might end up buying more than one, which in retrospect might not be a bad thing. After all, since when was there such a thing as 'too much ice cream'?

He had unlocked his car when a small tune started to echo down the street. The tune for this week was 'Mary Had A Little Lamb', the high pitched jingle almost impossible not to notice. It wasn't long before Hiccup saw the familiar white van, complete with colorful blue stripes across the middle. And of course it wasn't long until Hiccup saw children running down the sidewalk for the truck, their hands full of pocket change or 'borrowed' dollars from their parents.

Soon, the van had stopped and children began lining up on the other side of the street, all smiling as they went to pay for their treats. Hiccup hadn't bought ice cream from an ice cream truck in a long time. All of the ice cream was so bland and often never looked like how it was on the packaging, especially if it had the usual gumball eyes that seemed to bleed into the ice cream. He opened the door to his car and was immediately blasted with a wave of hot and humid air.

Now he had to really decide if the trip to the store was what he really wanted. Does he dare deal with sitting in his car for a few minutes as he waits for the AC to kick in if it meant getting such a simple thing as a tub of ice cream? Maybe he could get other groceries while he was out and make the trip more worthwhile. But what else did he need? Aside from maybe bread or cereal, there wasn't really much he needed at home.

He looked back up at the truck and sighed. He would feel silly standing in a line that was nothing but children, the oldest couldn't possibly be more than eleven. Still, it was either get satisfaction now or deal with the heat of his car and the traffic he was sure to encounter on the way to the store. And who was to say the store would even have anything good? Surely everyone else in town had the same idea as him.

He closed the door and locked his car, pulling out his phone and fiddling with a game as he waited for the line to die down. He might as well wait to make his decision; either risk looking like a fool buying ice cream from some guy in a van or go to the store and deal with whatever the hot day had in store for him.

However the time for decision making came fast. He wasn't even on his phone for two minutes before the line was down to its last two patrons. Quickly, not really thinking his decision through properly, Hiccup stuffed his phone inside his pocket and walked across the street. He kept his head low, still feeling a little embarrassed to do something he considered to be as childish as this was. Buying ice cream out of a truck was something only kids did. It probably wasn't even real ice cream. If anything it was probably store bought popsicles that were covered in sticky syrup that would make Hiccup's teeth hurt.

Hiccup stood behind the last kid in line, handing the person inside the truck her money and giving a small 'woo-hoo!' when she got whatever she had ordered. As she walked away, Hiccup sighed and stepped up to the truck and looked off to his right to see a large poster for some kind of new ice cream cone. An actual ice cream cone. That took Hiccup by surprise. He had expected simple popsicles on a stick in the shape of cartoon characters.

"Birthday Cake," a voice interrupted Hiccup's thoughts. He looked up to see a young and pale man who couldn't be any older than Hiccup, unless he was just a really youthful looking for someone older than twenty-two. Bearing a white hat with a small blue stripe, a blue apron and bowtie, and a white button-up shirt, he looked like he jumped straight out of an ice cream parlor from the sixties. His eyes in fact almost matched the blue bowtie, but they seemed to be just a shade or two lighter. But then there was his hair; it was silver, almost white. It wasn't the same kind of bright shade that the truck was, but it was still white nonetheless. Even his smile, could teeth be any whiter?

"I'm sorry?" Hiccup asked.

"Birthday cake," the young man said, nodding to the poster. "It's actually pretty good. Tastes a lot like the real thing believe it or not." His voice was deeper than Hiccup expected, which took Hiccup by surprise, but it was soothing almost.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah," the man said with another smile, acting as if he was the most optimistic person on the planet. "Two scoops for five dollars."

"Is that good?"

"As good as it tastes, I'd like to think so."

Hiccup glanced again at the poster, sighing as he pulled out his wallet. "I guess I'll take one of those then, please."

The young man quickly went to work, effortlessly pulling out a cone and placing a perfect scoop on top before Hiccup could even pull out a five dollar bill. As soon as he set his money down on the counter, the vendor was already getting ready to add the finishing touch on the frozen treat, adding plenty of sprinkles on the top of the last scoop.

He handed it to the brunet with the same welcoming and friendly smile. "One Birthday Cake ice cream cone with extra sprinkles!" he said as he twirled it in his hands.

Hiccup went to reach for the treat but quickly hesitated when he heard the stranger speak his order. "Oh, uh, sorry but I didn't order extra sprinkles."

"I know," the man stated. "It's on the house. I don't mind the extra fifty cents."

Hiccup could swear he felt his cheeks growing a little warmer, but in this heat it was hard to tell. Besides, his face was probably already a little red thanks to this heat. "Oh," he said as he took the treat from the stranger's hands, smiling back as he gave him a small nod. "Thank you."

"No problem," the stranger said as he took Hiccup's money and placed it inside a small metal box. Before Hiccup could leave though, he pointed at the cone and said, "You better go ahead and eat it though. In this heat it'll melt like crazy."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I guess it will." Hiccup slowly went to take a small lick off of the side of the treat, the sweet taste of cake batter covering his tongue in a spine-tingling chill. The guy was right! This really did taste good! And was well worth the five dollars. "Wow."

"Good, right?" the man asked.

"So much," Hiccup responded as he took another lick, getting a few sprinkles this time as he closed his eyes and relished in the pleasant taste that covered his tongue. "Oh man, this is so good."

"You're welcome," the man thanked.

Hiccup looked back at the man and for the first time noticed a small name tag on his right side. The name however took him by surprise. 'Jack Frost' it read. "Jack Frost?" he read aloud, questioning the reasoning behind the name. "Is that some kind of company gimmick?"

Jack shook his head, his lips still pressed together in a smile that never once seemed like it would falter or fade. "Nope. That's my real name."

"Jack Frost?"

"Yep."

"That's your real name."

"I certainly hope so or else I'm gonna have to get a new driver's license."

Hiccup actually chuckled at the joke before taking another lick of his ice cream, noticing that it was already starting to drip onto the cone.

"You better hurry up or else your hand is gonna get sticky."

"Yeah," Hiccup chuckled again. "I guess I should head back home."

Jack tapped his hands on the counter rapidly, looking down the street to see if anyone else was coming, but from the looks of it, all of his customers were gone for the day. "And it looks like I should head to my next stop." He tipped his hat towards Hiccup. "See ya next time."

"See ya," Hiccup responded with his own smile, though he unsure why he was so certain he would see Jack again. He stepped away from the truck, giving the young man a small wave as he started to drive away. He didn't move from his spot as he watched the truck drive down the road and soon turn down the corner, disappearing from his sight.

Hiccup walked across the street, heading straight to his balcony to finish his treat. He even found himself licking his fingers when he was done, the treat hitting the spot in more ways than he had anticipated. But now that he was done, he only had one thing on his mind. He wanted more, and part of him was sad that he would have to wait until tomorrow to get it. Of course he could always go to the store like he had originally planned and get some cake flavored ice cream there, but somehow that just didn't seem the same as ice cream that was made by Jack Frost. The store didn't give its patrons extra sprinkles. And it wasn't prepared by someone whom Hiccup thought was, in a way, kind of cute.

* * *

Hiccup reminded himself of the time to look out for Jack's truck all day the next day. He had left for the store yesterday around three o'clock, so he was out in the parking lot, waiting for Jack by two-fifty. Sure enough, at three minutes past, Hiccup looked up from his phone as he heard the familiar 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' tune start playing. Of course he didn't run for the truck like the kids did, but he didn't wait until the line was down to the last two kids before he crossed the street.

He stayed behind the line, letting any kid that wanted to get ice cream cut in front of him if they showed up later than the rest. Of course Jack had noticed him by then and smiled at him, letting him know that he was happy to see him again. It wasn't until the very last kid had walked off with his popsicle did he walk up to Jack, his wallet already in his hands.

He set the wallet down on the counter and gave the ice cream man a small nod. "Remember me?"

"Birthday Cake with on the house extra sprinkles! How could I forget?"

Hiccup laughed. "Yeah. Yeah that was me." He pointed at the pale man's nametag. "Jack Frost, right?"

"Last I checked," he said as he leaned over the counter, poking his head out of the truck. He glanced over to his left, the birthday cake poster still standing tall. "Come back for seconds?" he asked, nodding towards the poster.

Hiccup looked at the poster. "Maybe. I dunno. You think there's anything better?"

"Depends on who you ask," Jack answered. He looked over to the other side of the truck and pointed at the large menu. "I get kids every day that swear one of these is their favorite, but then the next time I see them they get something else and say it's their new favorite."

"Well I mean that's how kids are, right?"

"Yeah," Jack affirmed as he looked back at Hiccup. "But I mean the thing is with kids is they're not too afraid to break out of their comfort zone, ya know? They don't mind experimenting with some things. They'll have one favorite one day, but the next they'll have something completely different and say it's the best thing they've ever had."

He smiled as Jack went on, finding his rambling about the curiosity of children to be amusing and even entertaining. "Ignorance is bliss, huh?"

"If you wanna look at it that way," Jack chuckled. "In a way it is. But that's not really a bad thing. You gotta step out of your comfort zone every once in a while. Live, ya know? Have some fun."

The way Jack talked made Hiccup think that this speech was either something he was really passionate about or just something that he had rehearsed over and over again. Still, that didn't take away any of what he meant behind it all. "Well then, Jack Frost, why don't you pick something out for me?"

"In the mood for anything in particular?" Jack asked as he took a step back away from the window.

"Something sweet, but not too sweet. Something, I dunno, flavorful is the word I guess."

"You want ice cream or a popsicle?" Jack suddenly held out his hand as an idea came to him. "Wait!" he exclaimed as he rushed over to the cooler before Hiccup had the chance to answer. "I know just what you need," he said as he pulled out a popsicle, still wrapped in white plastic. He handed the treat to Hiccup as he went on. "For just the low price of two dollars, this delicious mystery treat can be yours!" he teased, giving the popsicle a little shake.

Of course Hiccup took the treat from Jack and handed him the money. He peeled off the wrapping to see a red, white, and blue popsicle, with dents on four sides and curved at the top to form the makeshift shape of a rocket. "Interesting," Hiccup said.

"It's called the Firework. For obvious reasons of course. Happy fourth!"

"The Fourth of July was like two weeks ago dude."

"Then happy twentieth. Just eat it already!" Jack said eagerly.

Hiccup rolled his eyes before he took a small bite off of the blue tip of the popsicle, the tarty blueberry flavor making his lips pucker just a tiny bit. "Wow," he said as he licked his lips. "Didn't see that coming."

"Another Reason it's called the Firework," Jack said as he leaned back out the open window. "It goes from blueberry, to pineapple, and then to cherry."

"That's an odd combination."

"Well I mean what else were they supposed to do? Make it all one big boring flavor?"

"Heh. I guess not." Hiccup looked down the street and saw that no one was coming. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay there and talk to Jack, to keep staring into those bright eyes of his and feel comforted by his inviting smile, but he knew the young man had a job to do. He sighed as he took a step away from the truck, holding up his popsicle as he spoke, "Thanks for this. I guess I'll see you around?"

"Or you could stay and see me right now," Jack said, propping his head up as he removed his hat, showing off his poofy and almost un-styled hair.

The brunet didn't know how to react at first. He only looked down the street and pointed to the corner Jack had turned down last time. "Don't you have another stop to get to or something?"

Jack shook his head. "Not today I don't. This is my last stop."

"Really?"

"Yep. I got someone else to take care of that route for me, so I got a few more minutes to spare."

Hiccup was again taken back by what Jack said. He got someone to cover his route? Why would he do that? Another route meant more money, right? Still, Hiccup didn't mind getting the chance to stay a little bit longer to get the chance to talk to Jack some more. "Well then, I guess I can stay behind a few more minutes." He raised a brow before taking another small bite. "You know, if I'm needed that badly."

"Hey, this job gets boring sometimes."

"I'd imagine so," Hiccup acknowledged. "How much does this thing even pay?"

Jack shrugged, scratching the back of his head. "Enough. It's more of a side job for just some extra money."

"So do you have another job?"

"Yeah, at the movie theater, but that's only for the weekends. This is just to get a little extra money to help me get by. You know, food, gas, extra pocket cash that I waste on video games and movie tickets. All that fun stuff."

Hiccup chuckled, relating to Jack more than he thought. "So you actually get enough to get by I hope?"

Jack nodded. "Oh yeah, I get enough. My apartment isn't the best of course, but it's better than a studio apartment. I actually live right on the other side of the park."

"Really?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah. It's pretty nice, but the best about it though is actually the balcony."

Now Jack really had Hiccup's attention. "Balcony?"

"Oh yeah," Jack said as he placed both hands on the counter, moving his hands slightly in small gestures as he explained. "It faces the park and if I go out there and the weather's nice, oh man, it's so awesome! The way the sun hits the trees, especially if there's a nice breeze, it looks so amazing! I just like to take my shoes off, kick my feet up, and just relax. Take it all in, ya know?"

Hiccup smiled as he listened to Jack's rant, an act he didn't think he would ever get tired of at this rate. "No, I know. I do the same."

"But it's like one of the best parts though is that, even though I can clearly see the taller buildings on the other side of the taller trees, it's nice to just pretend that they're not there. If I'm lucky, there's no cars or people talking for just a few seconds, and it's like I'm taking a vacation somewhere remote and out of the way. Listening to nothing but birds chirping the wind blowing and UGH it's so perfect!" Jack laughed in spite of himself, feeling as if he had just made a small scene in front of Hiccup. He brushed the bangs out of his way, blushing just lightly as he shrugged. "Sorry. Got a little carried away."

"No, no, no!" Hiccup quickly interrupted. "You're fine! I actually do the same thing sometimes!"

"Really?"

"Oh yeah! I take my cat out there with me sometimes and I just kind of watch the clouds go by."

Jack's eyes grew just a little wider. "You have a cat?"

"Yeah. He's a black cat with these really green eyes. His name's Toothless, but he's only named that way because his teeth are so small. To make matters worse a couple just never came in, so there are times when he literally looks toothless." Hiccup demonstrated, covering his teeth with his lips as he spoke, "And he enth up looking like thith whenevah he meowth."

Jack laughed at Hiccup's little show, finding it both amusing and, in a way, appealing. "Well they do say that pets take after their owners. Must be nice to have a cat that's almost just like you. Big green eyes and all." Jack froze for a second, as if he realized what he had just said, before he gave a small and nervous chuckle.

What Jack didn't know was that Hiccup almost had the same reaction. Was the cute ice cream guy complimenting how green his eyes were? Before he could think of anything to say in response, the cry of a small child was heard from down the street. Both boys looked down the street, Jack quickly placing his hat back on his head as he put on his usual smile as Hiccup stepped away from the truck, letting the young girl step up to the truck with a crisp five dollar bill in her hand.

"Hey there cutie," Jack said as he leaned over the counter. "What can Jack Frost get for ya today?"

"One lemon pop please!"

"One lemon pop, coming right up!" Within seconds, Jack was handing the little girl her treat, taking her money and giving her the change. "Anything else I can do for ya today, ma'am?"

The little girl shook her head as she peeled off the plastic wrapping. "No thank you."

"Alright, well you be sure to enjoy that, alright? Don't let it melt! And don't get a brain freeze either. Those things aren't fun at all!"

"No they aren't!"

"Hey, you wanna know a secret?" Jack asked. "If you ever get a brain freeze, just push the top of your mouth with your tongue like this." Jack opened his mouth wide, showing the girl what he meant as he gave the usual 'AAAAAAAHHH'. The girl giggled as Jack showed off the trick. "You just remember that, and your brain freeze will go away before you know it!"

"Cool!" She took a small bite of her popsicle before she started walking back the way she came. "Thank you, Jack!"

"No problem! You have a good day now!" Jack called out to the girl.

Seeing the girl buy her treat made Hiccup remember he had one of his own. He took another bite, relishing in the sweet taste as he walked back up to the counter, racking his brain as he tried to think of what else he and Jack could talk about. "You're good at your job," he commented. He looked to Jack, but was concerned as to why the white-haired male was snickering, biting his bottom lip as he stared at Hiccup. "What?"

Jack pointed to Hiccup's mouth. "Your tongue is blue dude."

"What?" Hiccup asked before he stuck his tongue out, sure enough seeing that his tongue was now a nice shade of blue, exactly like the tip of the popsicle. He smiled as he rolled his eyes. What were the odds that something as ridiculous as this would happen?

Jack seemed to enjoy it a little more than Hiccup, covering his mouth to hide his laughter. "I don't know why but that never seems to not make me laugh," stated Jack.

"You're such a child," Hiccup commented.

"You're point?"

The freckled young man only had another roll of the eyes to give in response. "So, how can you stand the cold in that thing? Does it get to you?" he asked before taking another bite, moving onto the pineapple flavor of his popsicle.

Jack looked around the truck as he sighed, shaking his head. "No. Not really. I mean, maybe at first, but I got used to it." He looked back to Hiccup as he gave him another optimistic and charming smile. "Not like I really had a choice though, huh?"

Hiccup chuckled again. "No. No I guess not," he said before he took another bite of his popsicle

For a moment there was nothing but silence. Jack watched Hiccup chew on his popsicle with that same grin still spread across his face. Although he quickly realized he was staring as soon as Hiccup started staring right back and looked away, rubbing the back ahead as he cleared his throat.

Hiccup didn't know what to make of what was happening. He barely knew this guy but he couldn't help but feel content and even happy whenever he talked to this guy. There was something about him that was calming and welcoming. It was like Jack knew exactly what to say. He wasn't sure if he could blame the heat now for the redness in his cheeks.

"Well, I, uh, I guess I should be going now," Jack said solemnly, as if he was upset to leave Hiccup so soon.

"Oh. Are you sure?" Hiccup asked, stepping closer to the truck and leaning against its counter. "You can't stay just a little bit longer?"

Jack smiled, but shook his head. "Sorry man, I'm still technically on the clock. I gotta get this thing back."

Hiccup understood, but tried not to look upset. He really shouldn't be upset anyways. A job was a job, and he didn't want Jack to get into any kind of trouble just because he was talking to someone like Hiccup. "Okay," Hiccup said as he stepped away from the truck. "I'll just, uh, see you tomorrow then?"

Jack's smile grew just a little. "You will?" he asked, finding excitement in the fact that this freckled young man planned on seeing him again tomorrow.

"Of course," Hiccup admitted. "Why wouldn't I? I gotta get my fix somehow."

Jack giggled as he moved away from the counter. "So…tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow," Hiccup repeated, his legs not wanting to move and start walking back for his apartment. Still, he forced himself to start walking. He tried to remain hopeful though. Tomorrow was still a weekday, so Jack would certainly be back here tomorrow. However, he didn't even get past the front of the truck before he heard Jack call out for him.

"HEY! WAIT!"

Hiccup rushed back to the side of the truck. "Yeah?"

Jack said nothing for a moment, as if he had forgotten what he was going to say. "I won't be here tomorrow," he finally spoke. "I-I'm sorry, but I'm not scheduled tomorrow."

Hiccup, to his own surprise, actually felt a little upset by this. But he couldn't let it show. Instead he just shrugged and smiled. "Oh well, I'll just see you the day after then?"

Jack said nothing again, trying to remember if he was scheduled to work that day. He snapped his fingers and pointed at Hiccup when he remembered, smiling as he answered, "Yes! Yes you will!"

Hiccup's smile too grew. "Great. See you then."

Again, Hiccup started walking away, this time hearing the truck shift into drive. Hiccup tried to forget whatever disappointment he had over the fact he wouldn't get to see Jack's welcoming and charming smile tomorrow, but tried to not let it get to him. After all, he could go one day without talking to Jack, right?

"HEY!" Jack called out again, proving to Hiccup that the same probably couldn't be said for the white-haired charmer.

He turned to see Jack leaning out of the driver's side window, his hat turned askew and his eyes wide, desperate to try and get the brunet's attention.

"Your name!"

"What?"

"I-I, uh…" Jack sighed, letting his head hang for a moment as he tried to collect his thoughts. He looked back up at Hiccup as he grinned sheepishly, hoping that Hiccup wouldn't think he was _that_ much of an idiot after that little outburst. "I, heh, I don't know your name."

"You don't?" It too had just occurred to Hiccup that he never gave his name to Jack.

"No. In my mind I've just always called you Freckles."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, but smirked regardless. He walked back over to Jack's truck and reached out with an open hand. "Hiccup," he said. "My name's Hiccup."

Jack sighed, feeling a wave of relief rushing over him now that he finally knew 'freckle's' real name. Jack reached out and took Hiccup's warm and inviting hand in his own, giving it a small shake. "Hi, Hiccup. I'm Jack."

When their hands finally touched, chills ran down both of their spines. They felt complete in a way now that they had finally had some kind of contact.

"Oh really? Well that's great to know because all this time I just thought your name was 'Frosty'," Hiccup teased.

Both of the boys left laughing, suddenly feeling worse about the fact they wouldn't get to see each other the next day now more than they had been before. Still, they could go one day without seeing each other.

* * *

The day lasted longer than Hiccup would have liked to admit. Things were going fine at first, but it wasn't until the day reached three in the afternoon did he remember what Jack had told him. Only then did he start to feel anxious and eager for the next day to arrive.

When it did, he couldn't help but smile once three o'clock came. He left his apartment just as the song starting to ring down the street. Per his usual gimmick, he let the kids go first as he waited on the other side of the street. Once it was down to the last few kids, he went over to the truck and waited out of view of the window. But he was caught off guard when the voice coming from inside the truck sounded nothing like Jack's. It bore a Russian accent and sounded gruff and much older than Jack's. When the last kid had bought his ice cream, Hiccup looked inside to see a large old man, a white beard and mustache who bore arms that Hiccup didn't think were possible for a man of his apparent age. Aside from that, he wore almost the same outfit Jack usually did, except instead of a blue apron and bowtie, his was a bright shade of red.

"Can I help you?" the man asked.

Hiccup was broken out of his small trance when the man spoke to him. He glanced behind him, wondering if maybe this man was helping Jack today on his usual runs. "Uh, yeah, um, I'm sorry. It's just…I thought someone else would be here is all."

"Oh! You mean Jack?" the man asked.

Hiccup smiled and nodded when the man mentioned Jack's name. "Yeah," he answered. "Yeah I was…I was expecting him is all."

The large man waved his hand. "Pssh. Is no problem." He reached out to Hiccup with an open hand. "The name is Nicholas."

Hiccup hesitantly shook the man's hand, afraid he might crush every single bone in it with just a twitch of his fingers. "Hiccup."

Nicholas nodded. "I know."

Now Hiccup was really confused. "You know?"

"Of course. Jack talked about you the other day." Nicholas folded his arms as he continued, "I thought I might see you today."

Hiccup didn't know what to focus on more. The fact that Jack was gone, or the fact that he had told others about him. "Well, where is he?"

"Ah, the poor boy, he got a little sick you see."

"Sick?" Hiccup repeated. "It's not anything bad is it?"

Nicholas shook his head, giving Hiccup his own hopeful and warm smile. "Nothing to worry. Is just a little cold is all. He should be good by Monday."

"Monday?" Hiccup then realized what today was. It was Friday, and Jack didn't work with the ice cream truck over the weekends. He would have to wait until next week to see him again. If he wasn't anxious before then he most certainly was now. "Monday," he said again. "Okay. Thank you."

"Now wait a minute," Nicholas said, stopping Hiccup before he could walk away. "You can't just come up to an ice cream truck and not buy anything, right?"

Hiccup had in all honesty forgotten that buying ice cream was actually part of his routine when it came to talking to Jack. All he paid any attention to was what had happened afterwards. "Oh, yeah, uh, I'll just take an orange creamsicle please."

Nicholas moved just a little slower than Jack, but he still got his treat fairly quickly. The cream taste vastly overpowered the orange flavoring, but he had something to cool him down which Hiccup chalked up to a plus to this situation. "Thanks," he said as he paid for the treat and started to walk away.

"I understand," Nicholas spoke up as Hiccup started to walk away, "You'll stay to talk to the young charming boy, but the old man isn't worth any of your time."

Hiccup bit his lip as he cringed, realizing how rude and uncaring he must look right now. He quickly moved back to the counter and gave an apologetic smile to the older man. "Sorry. I'm just, you know, I'm used to seeing Jack and all and…wait, what do you mean 'charming'?"

Nicholas chuckled, folding his arms as he winked at the brunet. "Ah, so you were paying attention."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Again, the bearded man chuckled. "Well, I said he talked about you, did I not?"

"Yeah."

"Well, wouldn't you like to know what he said?"

Hiccup was hesitant, but he nodded after looking to see if the sidewalk was clear of any children who'd want to buy something before the truck started moving.

"I know how Jack can be when he finds someone. I've seen it myself. When he came to work the other day Well, I know he wasn't lying when he said your eyes were green."

"That's what he said?"

"Well," Nicholas rubbed the back of his head, "not exactly. He might not have said _just_ green. He might have given me something else when I asked how green they were. But that is not important. He said many things after all."

Hiccup wasn't sure if he wanted to hear this, but he couldn't move away. He was like a child at story time, wanting to devour everything this man said. He desperately wanted to know what Jack said about him to the man, but at the same time he was scared to find out. Not because he was afraid about what Jack said, but of how he might take it.

Nicholas went on. "He said you had a nice smile."

Hiccup blushed.

"And he said you really looked like you needed a haircut."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, somehow not believing that someone with Jack's hair could really say anything about how Hiccup took care of his. "Anything else?"

Nicholas nodded. "Much." He looked down the street once before going on, "He said that because of you, he now has something else to look forward when he goes to work. The smiles he brings to the children are one thing, but he says he rather enjoyed talking to you the other day."

"We've only talked for a total of, like, fifteen minutes out of the days I've seen him." Hiccup pointed out.

"Well he's rather enjoyed those fifteen minutes."

Hiccup sucked in his lips as he looked away from Nicholas for a moment. So far so good. "Did he say anything else?"

"He told me he was glad to finally know your name. I was too. I did not think someone who got Jack to smile and talk like that deserved such a name as 'Freckles'," the man teased. "He also said he shared a hobby with you. Sitting on his balcony and looking at the treetops. That was always a favorite pastime of his. But what he really went on with was your smile and your laugh."

"My laugh?" Hiccup repeated.

Nicholas nodded. "Oh yes. Yes, he liked that very much."

Hiccup was smiling and blushing on the outside, but he was screaming internally. What was he supposed to do with this? Jack didn't exactly make any advances, and even if he did then it wasn't like Hiccup could reciprocate them right away. He barely knew anything about Jack aside from his job, a simple hobby, and his name.

"Jackson Overland is indeed a charmer though. I've seen him smile before, but not like this," Nicholas stated.

Jackson Overland? Great, Hiccup didn't even know his real name. "Wait...his smile?"

"Oh, yes," Nicholas affirmed. "We went on and on when he returned yesterday about how he couldn't wait until today so he could see you again."

"Why?"

Nicholas shrugged. "I do not know. All that I know is he is happy whenever he talks to you. I tell him 'Jack, my boy, you are so infatuated with this Hiccup. I have not seen you go on like this before.' He tells me, 'That's because I didn't know him before.'"

Hiccup really wished that no child would come up and ruin Nicholas' small speech.

"He has not had boyfriend in two years," Nicholas added. "Actually, he has not had boyfriend in two years, and no girlfriend in three." Nicholas quickly closed his mouth, his eyes growing wide before he gave a small bow to the young man. "I do apologize. That was not my business to share."

"It's okay," Hiccup responded, feeling a huge rush of…well he didn't know exactly what it was that was rushing over him. Relief? Happiness? Anxiousness?

Nicholas' smile fell just a little. "He was not happy that he was not able to come into work today. On the phone, he sounded upset; as if he was letting someone down."

"I mean, they had you to cover his shift. I'm not sure the kids would really mind."

The old man's smile came back as he slightly shook his head. "I do not think he was talking about the children."

Hiccup understood, but still he didn't know how to react properly.

Nicholas tapped the counter with his fingers, sighing as he looked to the steering wheel. "I best be on my way. These ice creams won't sell themselves you know."

"Yeah, yeah I get it," Hiccup said as he nodded and stepped away from the truck.

Nicholas gave him a small wave as he stepped away from the counter. "Best of luck, Hiccup!"

"Thank you." The old man had disappeared fully from Hiccup's sight before he called out to him, "Wait!"

Nicholas' head slowly peeked through the window as he gave a toothy smile. "Yyeeeess?"

"He…he said something else about my eyes, right?"

Nicholas started chuckling, remembering exactly what Jack had said. "Yes, yes he did."

Hiccup wasn't sure if it was his place to ask, but he was dying to know. Everything else had seemed so nice and caring, he just had to know what else Jack said about him. "What exactly, i-if you don't mind my asking, what did he say?"

Nicholas was silent for a moment, grinning as he felt that a small victory had just been made. "He says to me, he says, 'Nicholas, his eyes are like grass. Like the color of the leaves on the tress that I see when I look at the park. They're _that_ green.'."

Hiccup could swear he felt his heart skip a beat. This wasn't fair. None of this was fair and he didn't know how to react. But he still kept his smile, sucking in his lips for a moment before he stepped away from the truck again. "Thank you."

Nicholas didn't need to ask Hiccup what he was being thankful for. He already knew full well what he had just done for the young man. "You're welcome. I hope to see you again sometime!"

Strangely enough, Hiccup felt the same. This man practically oozed positivity and cheerfulness. "Me too!" Hiccup said as he watched the truck drive away. It was only a couple days away, but Monday couldn't get here fast enough.

* * *

Monday had finally come. Hiccup didn't even bother waiting for the line to die down before he crossed the street. In fact, he had actually beaten the kids there, leaning against the wall on the building behind him when he saw Jack's white and blue truck start to pull up.

He crossed his fingers just in case, but sure enough, Jack's warm and welcoming smile soon appeared to welcome both Hiccup and all the children that ran to the front of the line.

Of course Jack had to glance at Hiccup every now and then, giving him a sort of extra special smile each time. When the last kid had left, Hiccup slowly stepped forward, cash in hand, and leaned against the counter. Jack leaned in a little closer, both smiling and not saying anything at first for the few short and silent seconds that they shared.

"Hey you," Jack spoke.

"Hey," Hiccup responded. "I missed ya on Friday."

Jack's smile fell just a little. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I felt bad about it."

"I bet you did." Hiccup handed Jack his money. "Surprise me?"

Jack said nothing as he took Hiccup's money and went to grab something out of the cooler. He came back and held up the treat, still covered in its white wrapping, with a small grin. "And the big winner is," he said as he pulled off the wrapping, revealing the head of a green dragon with a red smile, black eyes, and red frills at the top. "Tada! A big ferocious dragon!"

Hiccup chuckled before he reached out to take the 'surprise' from Jack. "Thanks."

"Uh-uh-uh!" Jack said as he pulled the treat out of Hiccup's reach. "This one comes with an extra price."

"Say what?"

"Yep," Jack leaned in a little closer, "You gotta meow like that cat of yours again."

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. Toothless, right? I wanna see you meow like him again?"

"Why?"

"Because I asked so nicely."

Hiccup could tell that Jack was taking this seriously. "This is ridiculous."

"This is fun."

"To who!?"

"To me, silly. Who else?" Jack waved the treat in his hand teasingly. "Come on. You know you want it."

"This is extortion. I'm not gonna meow for some ice cream when you already took my money!"

Jack backed away from the counter, giving the brunet a small pout. "Well then I guess I'll just have to keep this all to myself then. No ice cream for Hiccup then. Boo hoo hoo."

Hiccup sighed with annoyance as Jack teased him like this. Still, he might as well amuse the guy since he only saw him for such a short amount of time. Swallowing his pride, Hiccup covered his teeth with his lips and gave a small "Mew," in exchange for his ice cream.

Jack enjoyed it way more than Hiccup had anticipated. He laughed as he covered his mouth, shaking his head as he held the treat over the counter. "Take it. Oh, my gosh, just take it. That was adorable."

"Shut up," Hiccup groaned as he took the ice cream from Jack. There was more silence as Hiccup took the first bite into the frozen treat, his eyes looking down at the ground when he noticed that Jack hadn't once looked away from him once he stepped back at the counter. "So, uhm, are you feeling better?"

"Tons," Jack answered with a nod. "I hardly left my bed all weekend. It sucked, man."

"At least you got a couple days off."

"At the expense of a throat that felt like warm sandpaper," Jack pointed out. "I'm not really sure if it was worth it. I mean, come on, I miss talking to people."

"And I'm sure some people missed talking to you," Hiccup stated before he took another bite.

Jack chuckled, glancing away from Hiccup for a moment as he nervously tapped his fingers on the counter. There were so many things he wanted to say but he had no idea how to say them. Hiccup was the same, except he felt more obligated to keep talking. The sooner they stopped talking, the sooner Jack would have to leave.

"So, does it ever get lonely in there?" asked Hiccup.

Jack shook his head. "Not really. Sometimes my sister rides along with me, but it doesn't get too lonely. Especially since I deal with kids all the time. I get company every now and then." Jack went back to leaning against the counter, propping his head up as he continued, "Some are more amusing than others though. I mean, not everyone will just meow for their ice cream."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, wondering if this kind of humiliation was worth the ice cream. "Yeah. And I'm sure those people are more than willing to go to the actual store to get their ice cream instead of waiting for some creepy guy in a van to sell it to them."

"Excuse you but this is _truck_," Jack pointed out.

"Whatever," Hiccup playfully scoffed. "Point is, I'm sure most people wouldn't do it to just get a snack from some people. Especially the people that lie about their names."

"Their what?" Jack moved his arm to lay down over the counter as he inquired, "What do you mean? I didn't lie about my name."

"Yeah you did! You so did!"

"When?"

Hiccup pointed to Jack's nametag. "Earlier! You told em your name was Jack Frost, and I asked if it was a company gimmick and you said it wasn't!"

Jack was silent and still for a moment before he slowly started to laugh. He let his head fall against his arm, one hand balled into a fist and lightly banging against the metal countertop. "Are you serious?" he asked, looking back up at Hiccup. "You seriously thought that was my name?"

"You said it wasn't a company gimmick!"

"Because it's not! I came up with that name myself, dude!" Jack shook his head, both in amusement and disbelief. "It's for the kids, Hiccup! They get their ice cream from Jack Frost? I mean come on! I thought it was obvious!"

"Well then why didn't you tell me what your real name was then, _Jackson_?" Hiccup questioned.

"Maybe because I like Jack better than Jackson and I thought it would be obvious that my real last name wouldn't be Frost?" Jack pointed to the ice cream in Hiccup's hand. "Are they putting secret ingredients in the ice cream now? Should I be selling this to children?"

Jack's joke was enough to get Hiccup smiling again as he too inspected the treat he held in his hands, tucking his hand under his own chin as he looked inquisitively at the frozen snack. "I'm not too sure. But there's been no lawsuits yet, so I'd like to think that they _might_ be okay."

The boys shared their small moment of laughter, both forgetting for the moment that Jack actually had a job to do and was still on the clock. Once Jack remembered, he didn't really mind if he got into a little bit of trouble once he returned. He was having fun with Hiccup, so why not stay and make it last just a little bit longer? When their laughter had died down, there was again another moment of silence between them, the only sound uttered by either of them being the content and relaxed sigh from the ice cream man.

"Well," Hiccup spoke up, "you can thank that Nicholas guy for telling me your real name, Overland."

"You talked to Nicholas?" Jack asked. "Awesome! He's probably, like, one of the nicest and probably the most positive person I've ever met."

Hiccup nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he was really nice."

"What all did you two talk about?"

"Oh, not much," Hiccup lied. "We just kinda talked about how hot it was and how much he liked his job." Hiccup was unsure if he should mention what they really talked about, but really there couldn't be any harm in just mentioning that they talked about Jack in some way, right? "And we might have talked about you for a little bit. Nothing too big."

"You guys talked about me?" Jack asked before he smiled pridefully. "I feel so honored. Tell me, what did the big guy say about me? All good things I hope."

"Maybe," Hiccup said with a shrug. "He just said how you act off the clock a little bit and that he thought we were good friends and…" Hiccup looked away from Jack, unable to keep himself from saying what Nicholas had really said, "maybe he said you liked my eyes or something."

"Your what?"

"Yeah…he might have said that you said they were as green as grass and tree leaves or something." Hiccup blushed, but he couldn't help it. He hoped he was making the right decision. The signs were all there. Surely he couldn't be reading them wrong, could he? When he looked back at Jack however, his small smile fell and he felt like his heart stopped.

Jack was staring, no, glaring at the sidewalk, frowning as he looked solemn and almost angry. He shook his head lightly as he bit his lip. "I'm going to kill him," he whispered before closing his eyes and sighing. He wanted Hiccup to know one day, but the fact that he found out from Nicholas and not Jack seemed like he was being cheated. He looked back at Hiccup with a small smile, almost looking apologetic that Hiccup had to find out that way. "Heh…yeah. I-I might have said something like that."

When Jack smiled, Hiccup slowly started to smile back, still a little worried that he might have made a mistake. But when Jack admitted that he had indeed said such a nice and wonderful thing about his eyes, his confidence returned. "Really?"

"Yeah," Jack answered in a softer tone. "I kinda did."

"Well," Hiccup leaned against the counter, his face only inches from Jack's, "I think your eyes are kinda nice too."

"Ya think so, huh?"

"I do. They're like…a clear sky. Actually, they're more like that one small bit of blue sky that stands out on a really cloudy day." Hiccup couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. They sounded cheesy and cliché, but they were true. Jack's eyes really were something else.

Jack giggled when Hiccup spoke, but took his words to heart. "Thank you." He hoped now more than ever that no kid would show up and ruin this moment for him. "So, be honest, what are you thinking right now?"

"Right now?"

"Yes. This very moment. Right now, what are you thinking?"

Hiccup shook his head, unsure of how to properly express himself. "I-I don't know. I guess I feel…I feel…ridiculous?"

"What?" Jack chuckled.

"Yeah, I mean, had I known this would happen I might have started getting ice cream sooner." He took another small bite of his ice cream before going on, "But I mean, I guess I feel a little stupid for not saying anything. But I mean I didn't know how you would feel so what was I supposed to say? 'Hey, I barely know you, you barely know me, but I think you're cute. You wanna maybe do something sometime?" Hiccup could feel his cheeks growing warmer. He felt like he was making a fool of himself in front of Jack, but at the same time he didn't really care. He was just happy to get these things off his chest now that he was certain Jack felt the same way about him.

Jack shook his head, unsure how to go about this. He wanted to actually get to know Hiccup a little more before he said anything. A crush was a crush after all, but he barely knew much about Hiccup. Now that this was out in the open, what were they supposed to do? It wasn't like they could ignore any of this, especially when they knew for a fact that the other clearly liked the other. "I mean, I kinda didn't make it any easier on you. From the start I was kinda, I don't know, is infatuated the right word here?"

"Infatuated?" Hiccup repeated.

"Yeah, I mean, right from the start I was flirting with you."

"Seriously? When?"

"Oh come on, Freckles. I don't give extra sprinkles for free to just _anyone_." Jack pointed out.

Now Hiccup really felt like an idiot. It seemed so obvious now! He buried his face in his free palm as he groaned. "Oh, man. Why? Why was I such an idiot!?"

Keeping his laughter contained, Jack reached out and grabbed Hiccup's wrist and pulled his hand away from his face, getting a good look at the brunet's blushing cheeks. "Well, I'm kinda partially to blame here too you know. It was my fault for flirting with someone so quickly. Especially since I didn't know if you were…you know."

Hiccup nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I get it. I was kinda the same way." Hiccup took another bite of his ice cream, now down to only two small more bites. "Still, you can't blame me for not getting the fact that you were flirting before we even had a real friendship going on."

"Well it's never too late to start you know."

"I think we've passed that point, Jack."

Jack nodded. "I think so too."

Hiccup took another small bite of his treat, and then another, and was then left only with the small wooden stick. "That was good," he said, trying to find a way to make the air less awkward between the two of them. "But I still think the Birthday Cake one was my favorite, sprinkles and all."

"I could get you one if you want," said Jack.

Hiccup politely shook his head. "Thanks, but I don't have any more money on me."

"So?"

Hiccup scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna let you buy me ice cream, Jack."

"And why not?" Jack asked with a teasing smirk.

"Because…because I just had some ice cream!" Hiccup sounded so confident and matter-of-fact-ly with his answer that he didn't even realize how silly of an argument it was that they were having. "So if you want to buy me some more then you're just gonna have to wait until next time."

Jack was silent for a moment, sucking in his lips before asking, "So, you think there'll be a next time?" as he reached out and took the stick out of Hiccup's hands, tossing it into a small bin he had by his side.

Hiccup's eyes grew a little wider, realizing what he had just said. But then again, it was a promise that either of them would obviously want to keep. "I mean, I'd like there to be. Wouldn't you?"

Jack nodded, letting out an almost silent laugh before he answered, "Yeah. I'd really like there to be." Jack looked at the sidewalk, raising a brow as he added, "But, just maybe not like this. I don't think I can handle only getting to see you for ten minutes at a time."

"Well, maybe I could come with you on your next route?"

Jack shook his head. "Uh-uh. If I'm gonna do the, then I'm gonna do it right."

Hiccup crossed his arms over the counter as he asked, "And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

Jack in all honesty wasn't sure. There were too many options to consider for him to pick an answer right now. Admittedly, all he really wanted was some time with Hiccup to get to know him a little better. He wanted some real time alone with the brunet, obviously wanting more than just ten minutes out of his work schedule. "I don't really know," he answered truthfully. "But I know I'm not working on Wednesday. You have any plans?"

"Conveniently, no," Hiccup answered, growing more anxious by the second.

"Well then, do you maybe, I dunno, possibly mind if we," Jack looked down at Hiccup's still crossed arms and couldn't help himself. With the hand that was resting on the counter, he reached out with his pinky finger of and placed it on top of Hiccup's hand. "you know…we do something sometime?"

Hiccup knew what his answer would be, but took his time giving it to Jack. Instead he slowly wormed his hand underneath Jack's, shuffling it inch by inch until he felt the rest of Jack's fingers move over his hand. He even turned his hand ever so slightly so that Jack could take the opportunity and wrap his fingers around his hand, which Jack did indeed eagerly take. Hiccup ran his thumb over Jack's fingers as he let out a small and almost unnoticeable laugh, almost a giggle, at the fact that he and Jack were holding hands.

Still, he had to give Jack an answer. He looked into Jack's bright blue eyes, feeling a sense of calmness and optimism wash over him as he answered, "Yeah. I think I'd like that. Could be fun, who knows?"

Jack gave Hiccup's hand a little squeeze, full of excitement and happiness now that he finally had a real chance with Hiccup. Nicholas was going to love hearing all of this; after Jack was done tearing him a new one of course. "Great. Yeah, yeah that's, uh, that's…yeah. Fantastic."

"Could you be any more nervous right now?"

"Give me a break, alright? It's not every day I get the cute nerd to go on a date with me!"

"Oh no, no, of course not. No, I'm sure you don't use that move on just anyone."

"What move?"

"You know what move! With the smile, and the sprinkles, and the thing about the eyes! Don't try to convince me you've never used that on anyone else!" Hiccup used his free hand to playfully poke Jack's shoulder as he teased him. "I refuse to buy it!"

Jack rolled his eyes as he pointed to Hiccup, still keeping his other hand in a soft and tender hold around Hiccup's. "You, good sir, need to stop accusing me of things. It's not really flattering."

"And you would know all about that wouldn't you?" Hiccup took his free hand and held it against his chest, right where his heart was, as he mimicked Jack and said, "Mister 'Oh Nicholas, his eyes are so green! They're just like the trees that I admire when I sit on my balcony! Oh my gosh they're just so gorgeous!"

"Quit turning me into a love-struck puppy!"

"Well that's exactly how you sound!"

"Do you want me to take back what I said?"

"Can you?"

"No but I can damn well try!"

Hiccup wasn't sure if it was the statement itself, or the fact that he just heard the guy that seemed so innocent every time he was around children just say the word 'damn', but he found it completely hilarious. He buried his head in folded arms to muffle his laughter, and hide his blushing from the sweet sentiment.

"You okay?" Jack asked through his own laughter, giving Hiccup's hand another small squeeze.

Hiccup nodded, keeping his head buried in his arms. "Mmhmm," he mumbled before he lifted his head again, smiling as he sighed contently. "I'm just really looking forward to Wednesday is all."

"Me too," Jack admitted. He looked to the front of the truck, his hand slowly letting go of Hiccup's as he spoke. "And I think now's a good a note as ever to put this thing on pause and see what happens tomorrow."

Hiccup wasn't going to let go of Jack's hand so quickly, giving it his own squeeze ad running his thumb over Jack's fingers one more time before he let him have his hand back. "I guess so," he replied. He didn't step away from the truck right away however. He was too busy taking one last look at Jack, who was doing just the same thing. Neither of them wanted to leave the other. Though they knew they would see each other again, they wanted now more than ever to not have to wait until tomorrow to see the other.

"I'll see you then," Jack said as he slowly stepped away from the counter.

"See you tomorrow," Hiccup promised. "And you better have that Birthday Cake ice cream ready for me, too."

Jack snapped his fingers and pointed at Hiccup, smirking as he asked, "With extra sprinkles, right?"

"Like I would take it any other way," Hiccup chimed. He eventually took his own step away from the truck, waving at Jack as he stepped to the side and vanished from Hiccup's view. But Hiccup still didn't move. Instead he stood there, keeping his hand up and giving a small wave to Jack as he put the car in drive and started to pull away.

But Jack didn't get too far. In fact he didn't even get more than twenty feet before Hiccup heard him call out, "HEY!" and stop the car, put it in park, and poke his head out of the window.

"Is this gonna be a normal thing for us?" Hiccup asked as he walked over to Jack. "You know, you driving off but then suddenly remembering something and calling me back? If you wanna see me again then all you have to do is ask."

"It's not that you big dummy," Jack said as he rubbed his shoulder. "I just, uh, I kinda realized that we're seeing each other on Wednesday, and I have no idea what you want to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what should we do? Go get lunch, see a movie, a nice leisurely walk through the park? What do you want?"

Hiccup hadn't really thought that far, which he now realized he should have considering that this was really going to be their first date. "Uhm, a movie? Yeah, movie. That sounds good to me."

"Great," Jack said with a nod. "Oh! And, uh, afterwards, we can use my pool!"

"You have a pool?"

"Well," Jack shrugged, "it's not really _mine_, it's really for the complex I live at, but I can reserve it so it'll just be the two of us."

A movie and then a pool date. An odd choice for a first date, but still something Hiccup thought would be well worth the wait and anticipation. "That sounds great. What time should I meet you at the movies?"

"Noon sound okay to you?"

"Sure. Noon's just fine."

"Awesome." Jack paused for a moment, holding up his forefinger as he thought about anything else he might need to tell Hiccup before he drove off. But there was nothing he could think of and instead he just pointed at Hiccup and said, "I think that's everything."

"You sure? I'd hate for you to drive all the way down to the corner and suddenly remember something else."

Chuckling, Jack shook his head. "I think that's everything this time." He stepped away from the counter and gave the brunet another small wave. "I'll see you tomorrow with that Birthday Cake ice cream!"

"With extra sprinkles?"

"Of course! You wouldn't have it any other way, remember?"

Hiccup shook his head as he waved at Jack, bidding the young man farewell as he moved back to his seat and started driving off. Though he couldn't see Jack as the truck started to drive away, he had a good feeling Jack was staring into the mirror all the way to the intersection until he took the corner and drove off.

It was only until Jack's ice cream truck had completely disappear from his sight did Hiccup start to cross the street and return to his usual life. He couldn't wait for Wednesday to come. The heat today couldn't stop him from smiling as he yearned for the rest of today to go by faster. A movie and a pool date. Now that was one he didn't see coming. But still, he was certain that he would have a wonderful time. Besides, public pools couldn't be that bad, could they?


End file.
